Brinks Alarms: Beware of the Fuel Surcharge Tax

[George Orwell <nobody@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I like to inform consumers when I feel they are being wronged. A run-in with Brinks leads me to believe that I am not alone in my 2 thoughts....

I recently had a problem with my Brinks alarm. I was trying to test the system and realized I didn't have a live connection with the monitoring group. For those not familiar with the Brinks alarm system (or don't currently own an alarm that is monitored), your are expected by Brinks to "test" your alarm once a month. This is done by asking the system to send a signal to the central server to ensure the unit is performing correctly (verifying a live signal) and then sending a counter-signal back to the device to let the user know (with a loud beep) that a successful connection was made. After repeated tries, I decided to call Brinks to get help with this problem.

We purchased through Brinks because we wanted a reputable company. We were assured of their great technology and years of expertise in residential service. We were also assured of their no-hassle technical service should we have a problem with our system at any point. Imagine my surprise when I asked for a technician to come out and Brinks hesitated. They first asked if I had a digital phone. I told them I did but it was in place before I had the system put in (which I was told at the time wouldn't be a problem). They repeatedly stressed that their system has problems with digital phones (monitoring requires a connection via the telephone line). They (Brinks) wanted to let me know that a charge would be made if it the problem wasn't theirs. I told Brinks I didn't care as the phone was well in place before and the system had worked fine for months. What I also found out was technicians only work Mondays to Saturdays and only during work hours. With the exception of a Saturday visit, I would have to take time-
off work to be home between the hours of either 9:00am - 12:00am or 1:00pm to 4:00pm. I booked a Friday knowing my wife would be home on one of her days off.

I called later that day to see how things went. My wife told me the technician had come and mentioned that Brinks was having several problems with their systems similar to ours. He ended up fixing the system but then asked my wife for a $5.00 fee to cover the fuel costs for the trip. She paid the fee but knew full well that I would have not endorsed such a cost.

I called Brinks yesterday to examine the plausibility of the cost. Here is Brinks arguments for charging the $5.00 fee:


    * Its a Canadian Law to charge the $5.00 fuel surcharge.

    * Its Brinks policy.

    * Everyone is charged and has been charged since March of 2007.

Here are my arguments:


    * Firstly, there is no such Canadian Law that asks all services calls for warranty approved work to be charged a $5.00 surcharge for fuel.

    * The very meaning of the word "surcharge" implies this is a company policy to add an additional cost to its clients, not a Canadian Law demanding such a fee. Also, Brinks constantly referred to this $5.00 surcharge for fuel as a "Fuel Surcharge Tax", talk about trying to group words together to make the argument.

    * The Protective Service Agreement that I signed with Brinks to enter into this arrangement in section 6. under "Repair Service" does not mention any such surcharge to warranty approved work. There is mention of acts of god, misuse, negligence, fire, but no mention of a surcharge that will accompany a visit where the system is not performing to its designed specifications.

In the end, the Service Call Manager (of course I had it elevated) gave me another number to call to get my credit of $5.00. He said that he would neither agree or disagree with me on this matter as he did not have the authority to change company policy. This in itself is an admission of error on the part of Brinks.

If anyone else has had similar challenges, the number to call is: 1-800-437-3611. They are only open Mon-Fri 8am to 5pm.

Source: http://my2thoughts.blogspot.com/2008/01/brinks-alarms-beware-of-fuel-surcharge.html


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